Edward Snowden Seeking Refuge in Newton County, Arkansas

Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee who leaked details of a top secret mass surveillance program, has finally been spotted in Newton County Arkansas. This ends the three day international quest for Snowden since he was rumored to have left Russia over the weekend.

Snowden has reportedly spent the last few weeks building his appearance to blend into the North Arkansas environment. In an interview with Rock City Times we noticed that Snowden has allowed his beard to grow out, has purchased a number of second hand overalls, and has refused to shower for over two weeks.

Snowden chose the location due to the remoteness of the region and the lack of any sort of outside communication. Snowden hopes that this will make him harder to track than other locations. “Originally I thought about going to Ecuador, but that didn’t feel remote enough for me,” Snowden says. “After running through 20 or 30 possible locations I decided on the hills of North Arkansas. The people there have not seen outsider contact in 30 years, it was a perfect place to make a new home.”

The US government for the past several weeks has used cell phone and internet records to track Snowden’s movements across the globe. That access is the very thing that Snowden leaked originally that put him on the run. By venturing to North Arkansas Snowden feels he will finally get to live in peace by being far away from internet and cell phone connections.

“I am actually looking forward to my time here,” Snowden says. “I think I might get out to the Newton County Bluegrass festival. Of all the places the CIA has stationed me such as Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong and even Langley, I’ve never been able to take in a quality Bluegrass festival. I feel like by going off the grid I am finally gaining some liberties.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about when he says, “The people there have not seen outsider contact in 30 years, it was a perfect place to make a new home.” Tourism is our largest industry and we see people from all over the place all the time…